Tips to help backyard birds this winter

Sunday

Nov 18, 2012 at 3:15 AM

You can help birds meet their nutritional needs during wintertime, and will surely be rewarded with a diverse, frequent flock of feathered friends.

There’s lots of birdfeed to choose from, much of it is produced as a sideline business and can contain low quality fill that birds just won’t eat. Some birdfeed has even been identified as containing toxins known to be harmful to wildlife. Responsible research on your bird feed choices will provide birds with the food they require and protect them from toxic chemicals.

-- Feeding birds is by far the simplest way to attract them. Adding the best winter bird food choices to your feeders when the temperatures drop, will give birds the extra energy they need to survive even the worst weather. Foods high in oil and fat are the most popular winter picks.

-- Black oil sunflower seeds –Seeds have slightly thinner shells and a higher oil content than other types of sunflower seeds, making them a more efficient and nutritious food. Offer them in platform, tube or hopper feeders to attract a wide range of hungry birds.

-- Niger – Also known as thistle seed is a favorite food for winter finches such as pine siskins, redpolls, and goldfinches. Another oily seed that offers lots of calories, niger helps birds store fat they need to keep warm.

-- Fruit – Many songbirds that favor fruit migrate in winter, but many other birds that stay in snowy areas year-round will also enjoy the treat. Offer chopped apples, orange wedges, or banana slices, on platform feeders, spikes or nailed to trees. Chopped or dried fruit can also be added to suet mixtures.

-- Seed mixes – For convenient and economical winter feeding; nothing beats a good-quality birdseed mix. While birds can probably tell a good mix just by looking at it, humans cannot. Choose a mix that features large proportions of sunflower seeds and millet, but avoid mixes with large proportions of unappetizing fillers such as wheat, milo and corn. Birds will pick out the yummy stuff and leave the filler – and a big mess – behind.

-- Water -- Fresh, liquid, moving water using birdbath spritzers or fountains will readily attract many backyard birds in winter. Add a heater to your water supply and you’ll be surprised at the number of birds that use it.

-- Shelter- A cozy place to roost will keep your backyard birds secure and comfortable even in the worst weather. Bird roost boxes and other shelters are essential to protect small birds from frigid, dropping temperatures. Offer birds a source of winter nesting material to use as insulation.

-- Serve safely- Just as backyard birds may be more desperate during the lean times of winter, so are predators such as cats and hawks. Position bird feeders in a safe place to protect them and pay attention to prints in the snow to learn what predators may be threatening your feeders.

Start now preparing your yard for winter so birds will learn it’s a safe place long before they’re in desperate need. By providing for birds’ basic needs as cold weather approaches, it can be easy to attract birds to your yard in winter. You’ll enjoy their company even when the weather is at its worst.

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